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February 14

The full list of key modifications and fixes made in the Valentines’ build are:

fixed an issue that made costumes draw irregularly (when scrolling through multiple custom costumes in succession

added a button reference / instruction for setting character or gang controller in online and local game menus

added haptic feedback support (compatible controllers trigger force feedback when taking punches, kicks, headbutts, and other blunt force injuries or when grip stamina is close to spent

added lighthouse stage

added support for restarting the current local game from the in-game pause menu (restarting from the pause menu in a random game session with load a new stage, not the current stage)

added Valentine’s themed costume parts

fixed an issue that could force UI text and other information off screening some context

fixed an issue that could make the wrong networking message show in error in some contexts

fixed an issue that erroneously rendered sections of the exterior negative space on incinerator as white

fixed an issue that erroneously set the menu context to the costumes menu if the game start timer is cancelled and the back instruction is submitted from the local or online menu

fixed an issue that made the game stall or exit if a client running on an Ubuntu OS is in the game session

fixed an issue that malformed the rendering of the disconnection error character graphic

fixed an issue that prematurely exposed menu input from the opening logo screens

fixed an issue that stopped the selection of head costume parts in some contexts on the costumes menu

fixed an issue that triggered the associated character to headbutt when the input for duck / slump is used to exit from the in-game pause menu

fixed an issue where members of the same gang can be separated in error in the gang game mode

fixed an issue with football game scores incrementing when the ball collides with a goal (if the game ended in a draw)

fixed an issue with SFX samples triggered on the last stage persisting to the menu when a game session ends)

fixed an issue with the balloon screen showing rows for players not in the current game session in some contexts)

fixed an issue with the decrementing numbers starting on a low value (in the local and online game menus)

fixed an issue with the fire implementation on incinerator rendering over in-game messaging

fixed an issue with the railing colliders not syncing erroneously on chutes

fixed an issue with UI information for the current menu or screen failing to dismiss when transitioning to a new menu or screen

fixed online syncing issues with some costume parts

modified balloon screen to give more contextual information (balloons won in past stages fade onto screen concurrently with the screen blur transition, balloons won on the current stage inflate in place)

modified football UI size for legibility to standardise with other UI sizes

November 12, 2017

We have written this post to summarise current and recent development work and to give more information on launch content for the game as we are still a number of weeks from publishing the next Steam build.

We plan to start testing the next build (build 0.7.0) from next week and have scheduled support from Babel, Coatsink, and Double Fine to help with the identification, documentation, and fixing of a small number of persisting issues preventing the release of the next Steam build (and to facilitate and optimise testing cycles).

The 0.7.0 build has a glut of fixes and modifications made to optimise, standardise, and refine gameplay, menus, messaging, networking, matchmaking, menus and other UI, interstitial game screens (hint screens, loading screens, and score screens etc.), the following is a summary of key game content modifications in the coming 0.7.0 beta build with information on the work left to finish before the full launch of the game.

Online

The minimum limit for private online sessions was set at 4 players for testing when support for private online sessions was published in late September (concurrently with the move to Multiplay's server architecture), a limited number of issues surfaced with the matchmaking process during the Steam Free Weekend stress test and also in October but Coatsink have been aggressively addressing these issues and we expect to lower the minimum concurrent player limit for private sessions from a minimum of 4 to a minimum of 2 in the 0.7.0 beta build.

We expect to talk with Double Fine, Coatsink, Multiplay, and other partners later this month to make a full review of current server provision and capacity, please email support@boneloaf.co if you frequently have issues connecting to online servers in the 0.7.0 beta build (for reference support for private online sessions replaced the private server tool in September as the private server tool is not compatible with current client builds, support for the private server tool will be reviewed later this year).

Localisation

The game has been localised for 7 languages, the supported languages in the full release build are Brazilian Portuguese, English (UK), US English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, (the UK English and US English localisations share most strings) with a small number exceptions that we expect to have localisations for soon, support for other languages will be added post launch. For reference we currently expect localisation support to be the 0.7.0 beta build and we will post information on other planned localisations to the FAQ section of the gangbeasts.game site as we confirm support.

Input

We're currently working on localisations for input references (for keyboard, mouse, and officially supported game controllers) but still need to standardise the UI for input mapping sequences with the rest of the game. The lack of support for mapping mouse button inputs is a temporary issue and we current expect this to be fixed in the next 0.7.0 beta build.

For reference support for VR touch controls is planned to come with full VR support next year.

Climbing

We have made multiple passes on the climbing implementation and supporting geometry to make climbing less difficult and more immediate in recent builds in preparation for a last pass on stages to add specific support for complex structures (examples of complex structures are the small billboard structures on roof, the buoy structure on buoy, the truck body work on trucks, and the turbine on vents), for reference some section of complex will have a lower targeting priority than expected until this work is finished.

Spawning

We need to set explicit spawn patterns for game mode configurations to balance gameplay and modify patterns to fit the selected game logic, specifically we need to implement set spawn patterns, for example gangs spawn patterns need to be on opposing sides of the selected stage (in 2 vs 2, 3 vs 3, or 4 vs 4 gang mode games).

Stages

We have finished work on the geometry for launch stages (excluding a small number of superficial modifications and props), stages identified as launch stages have had passes to optimise performance, standardise colour schemes, and address gameplay issues, the stages with significant modifications made to geometry are billboard (new billboard sign and catwalk structure), chutes (lowered catwalk and modified pipe works), grind (new meat slurry implementation, new pipework, new articulated grinder implementation, and new catwalk), subway (new scene with modified hanging lights, staircase, prop, and platform geometry) and trucks (new truck geometry and some minor cosmetic modifications).

Camera

We have transitioned to Cinemachine procedural camera framework and are currently working to improve support for user modification of the single player camera, group tracking, geometry clipping, camera bias, lerping, and dampening etc. but are seeing significant improvements over the previous camera system. We are also working to standardise the presentation of player information and the post stack implementation (specifically the default parameters for graphics setting).

For reference the issues with settings and resetting inputs, graphics, and other menu settings is being addressed and is expected to be fixed in the 0.7.0 build.

Modes

We are working on minimising the steps and time it takes to configure and start game modes and game sessions, and on exposing more support for game mode customisation, we are also experimenting with a longer window for identifying draw states. We are also working on making character, costume, and gang / team selection less confusing in the game mode configurations screens.

Costumes

We have been working on exposing more costume customisation parts and the UI and flow of the costume customisation screen, we have also been working to fix physics stability issues and gameplay exploits associated with specific costume parts. We have also exposed an additional four character colours and made multiple passes to improve colour and colour tints (and minimise clashes with the colours for non-character geometry).

Thank you

Thank you for staying with us we push to get to the full launch of the game, we're working on some fun holiday content for next month, and are excited that the full game will be out soon.

If you have questions, please comment on this post or Tweet @boneloaf. We plan to make a post with information on testing for the 0.7.0 build later this month with any additional information we can give on the next builds and full release content.